March 7th Judge Halprin decided that I owe 545 West 146th Street Corp. $73, 000. The Appeals Clerk helped me fill out the forms to start an appeal and sent me to the third floor to order transcripts. Mirabal Sisters helped me serve the notice of appeal.

Last week, shortly after the kitchen ceiling collapsed for no apparent reason, I went to the post office to mail a print to my mother for mother's day. When I got back I checked the mail and found this Notice of Eviction (Notificacion de Desahuco) which states that I may be evicted on the sixth business day after this notice the date on the notice is 05/04/2011.

Friday I went to 111 Center Street to pick up transcripts for my appeal. I have been trying without much success to get over a bad cold that started simultaneous to the ceiling collapse. Yesterday, I went to the second floor of 111 Center street and asked to stop the eviction. I was given a form to fill out and told I would have to see the judge. I sat in Judge Halprin's court for a while then was told to go to 60 Center Street. Today I went to 60 Center Street to see about stopping the eviction. The clerk there was helpful and gave me forms to fill out, and bring back.

Meanwhile, I am looking for people to live with - - either in apartment 47 or somewhere else. I can afford about $500 per month.

Today the housing court trial continues. My friend suggested making a list of facts and corresponding laws.
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I believe 545 W 146th St Corp. is guilty of gross negligence, harassment, and lying to state agencies. They are endangering the health, safety and well being of tenants in the building (myself included).

Culpable parties: Super, managing agent, officers of the corporation, (share holders)

Facts:

In May 2006, tenants reported a leak in bathroom ceiling had caused bathroom ceiling to collapse. In June, LL still had not responded. In July, LL still had not responded. In August, LL still had not responded, in spite of tenants withholding rent. In September, hole was plastered over, but leak continued to cause mold and recurring collapse.

Debris consisting of rodent and roach feces, dead animals, dust, mold and poison exists between the ceiling of one apartment and the apartment above falls through cracks around heat pipes and elsewhere contaminating the air and harming tenants.

Super harasses tenants, perniciously
-- turning off elevator
-- tearing down signs
--turning of hot water
--cutting off heat
--saying things like, "I am going to put a baby in your belly." and "I'll fix you faucet if you come over to my apartment."
--raping tenants
--demanding entry without proper notice
--removing drain pipe to intentionally damage building
--making lobby cold on night of scheduled meeting by opening doors and windows
--threatening tenants

LL brought frivolous law suits:
-- Instead of making repairs, sued tenants in 2006. Case thrown out due to evidence of mis-reporting to DHCR and over-charging.
--instead of making repairs, sued tenants in 2007. Case dismissed due to lease registered with DHCR omitting one of the tenants. Judge ordered 545 to correct problem before re-petitioning.
--instead of making repairs, sued tenants in 2009 asking for eviction based on hold-over. Case dismissed--wrong type of petition...should have petitioned for non-payment.
--instead of making repairs, sued tenants in 2010 for eviction on the basis of holdover. Case dismissed-- wrong type of petition. Should have petitioned for non-payment.

LL lied to DHCR.

Halls, stairs and lobby are usually unsanitary and have been in a state of disrepair for over seven years.

Trash cans are kept uncovered.

No recycling receptical is provided.

On Friday and Saturday evenings in the summer, tenants of apartment 1 are allowed to operate a business that makes quiet enjoyment impossible.

Strangers are allowed to get drunk, urinate, defecate, fornicate and pass out in halls, stairs and elevator.

Halls, stairs and lobby are usually littered with trash and sticky.

Many residents have no keys.

Most door buzzers are broken.

There is graffiti in lobby, elevator, halls and stairs.

There seems to be some sort of x-ray, sonar, or microwave type of electrical device in apartment above apartment 47, causing old wooden floors to deteriorate and harming tenant. It seems to have different settings.

Bathroom faucet still broken, kitchen cabinet still rusted, bathroom tiles still discolored and broken, bathroom light broken, water pressure to shower very low, toilet broken, holes in floors ceilings and walls, bathroom ceiling water damaged, there is a crack in the first bedroom ceiling and crack in master-bedroom wall which is oozing a brown substance.

There have been a number of "bad repairs". Among these are floor around radiator in living room, bathroom floor, bathroom tiles, sloppy plaster and caulk around baseboards, insecticide paste haphazardly placed and painted over.

My next court date with 545 W 146th Street Corp. or Inc. is Tuesday, February 22, 2011. They claim I owe them $80,000.00. I filed a counter-claim or Order to Show Cause saying they owe me for enduring harassment, un-safe conditions and that they have been grossly negligent and have mis-reported to the court and to DHCR.

Last summer, Joel Charleston, the new attorney for 545 made a list of things that needed to be repaired in the building. Some of the repairs were made. Many were not. Around the same time, (I guess after he got tired of making repairs) the super knocked on my door and asked to see something in the apartment. I let him in. He had his helper remove a large piece of the run-off pipe that drains the roof when it rains. They said they had to fix it and never brought it back. Now the whole pipe is missing.

On that list of repairs were a number of "bad repairs", things that had been poorly repaired like the floor around this radiator in the living room.

Also, this bathroom floor is what I would call a "bad repair".

There had been a recurring problem with the bathroom ceiling leaking and causing the ceiling to fall. The water also caused the light fixture to short out and mold to grow between the walls.

The super and friends plastered over the hole and painted. Some water has fallen since then and started to stain the ceiling. The bathroom light still does not work.

For some reason, the water pressure in the shower is extremely low, even when the water pressure for the tub is high. The temperatures also can be very different. I can't figure that out. The faucet is loose and will come off in your hand. When I asked the super to fix it, many years ago, he asked me if I wanted to go over to his apartment.

I just noticed this crack in the master bedroom wall. Something seems to be Oozing from it.

There is a crack in the ceiling of the first bedroom as well as a hole in the closet where a light used to be. Through these holes and cracks and the cracks around the heating pipes comes a black dust that is likely the remains and feces of 100 years of roaches and rats as well as dust and poison. This front room is too cold in the winter to use as it shares two walls with the hallway and one with the outside and the heat is rarely on. The second bedroom is unusable because of the dust which gets in the eyes and is unhealthy to breath.

Yesterday was, the new beginning of my housing court trial. I got there early enough to notice that a new skyscraper is being built that--from the view from the 8th floor looking south, appears a bit taller than the (municipal?) building at 1 Centre Street. I looks like a Frank Ghery type of thing kind of warped and wavy like a mirage or something melting. People at housing court are amazingly nice. This time though, I did get very worried about losing my home. $80, 000 is a great deal of money to me--much more than I have or have ever had. It looked for a moment like I would be asked to pay half that or vacate the premises. By the end of the day though, it seemed that the tide had turned somewhat. Much to my relief, the judge asked the LL attorney to get certified documents which required us to re-convene at a later date, the 22nd of February. For this I am VERY grateful, as it gives me time to get my facts straight, get updated records and call witnesses.

Going back to housing court this Wednesday. Here is an e-mail I sent to Joel Charleston, the attorney for 545 W 146th St. Corp. in response to his request for information. Mr. Charleston is actually a very nice guy and I am feeling pretty hopeful about getting repairs and services in the near future. Then, maybe some roommates. Now I see a few typos. Please forgive those:

Mr. Charlston,

I am looking forward to our meeting at 111 Center Street RM 830 at 9AM on the 26th.

I received in the mail a request for some information which I will try to provide here now:

Overcharge Complaint--I arrived in NYC in August of 2003 having rented a room off Craigslist at this address
(545 W 146th Street Apt 47) sight unseen. A check had been sent to a man by the name of Cheik Tall in the amount of $1,000 US for first and last month's rent. When I arrived there were 3 other people living here (Vy Chum, Irene, a pedicab driver from Florida whose name I am hard pressed to recall) occupying the three bedrooms of Apt. 47. I was offered the choice of the dining room ($500) or the walled off living room ($600). Mr. Tall offered a $100 per month discount in exchange for borrowing my car. The next month an AmeriCorps friend of mine, Juliana Schwartz also moved in and rented the dining room so there were five people living in the apartment.

All together, I estimate that well over $2, 000 dollars US was collected for the apartment each month. In November of 2003, Irene moved out and Bernardo Masoko Moved in. I had been advised by neighbors (also renting from Cheik Tall) to check with DHCR and see what the rent history for the apartment was. I went to DHCR, acquired a rent history, and was advised to get a lease*. The 2003 rent history (which has disappeared) showed no leases recorded for years. If memory serves, the last and only lease recorded was for someone named Melody in 2001 at a rent of around $1, 000 per month. Using this as a guide, my neighbors, roommates and I estimated that the legal rent should be somewhere around $1,100-$1,200.

I know that Mr. Nabavi was aware of Check Tall and the four apartments he controlled in this building. I don't know how much Cheik Tall paid to 545 W 146th Street Corp. or if that payment was recorded. I do know that when I moved here in 2003 there were people living here and paying rent. However, None of them were named TAUE and their presence was not reported to DHCR when I checked the rent history in 2003 and 2004. In 2006, Judge FInklestein, looked at our case and found that the 2002 and 2003 rent report looked very suspicious since 545 had waited until November 2006 (right before our court date) to report any activity since 2001 to DHCR. Furthermore, when we returned to court in the summer of 2007, a different Judge, Judge Wendt again found that 545 had mis-reported to DHCR by reporting a second Masoko lease in 2006. Both Masoko and the attorney for 545 denied in court any knowledge of the second lease. In, light of this dubious reporting on the part of 545 W 146th Street Corp., I ask that the court return to the 2001 record of P Simon Daniella Daniel as the last recorded lease and also, that they not assume (or take 545's word as fact) that the apartment was ever vacant.


*In the winter of 2003-2004 Bernardo Masoko, and I asserted our right to a lease, (Vy Chum and Juliana Schwartz did not want to be named on a lease, but were still living in the apartment and paying rent.) Cheik Tall after some stressful negotiation said he did not mind if we had the lease and advised us not to accept Mr. Nabavi's first offer of $1,800 US per month. Mr. Nabavi agreed to offer us a lease of $1, 600 per month. Which we (or at least, I) believed to be an overcharge, but I had been advised to get a lease before filing a complaint with DHCR. Bernardo Masoko collected the rents every month and wrote checks for the whole amount to the Hempstead, Long Island address of 545 W 146th Street Corp.. In Fall of 2004 (I believe), I filed a complaint with DHCR about the conditions in the building and the overcharge. Much later, my letter was returned to me with a note from DHCR in Jamaica, saying that the complaint could not be recorded without receipts showing payment. Busy with work, unaware of a time limit and not on good terms with Bernardo, who had the receipts, I did not follow up until after our bathroom ceiling fell in in May of 2006. In December of 2006 DHCR sent notice that they had received the complaint along with 545's rebuttal which flatly denied any wrong doing. Unaware that I was supposed to respond, I waited for DHCR to decide whose version was a accurate reflection of reality. Since I did not respond, DHCR decided in favor of 545. I ask that the court review this decision. Furthermore, I would like to ask for the court's help in reviewing the rent history of all the apartments in the building as I believe many of my neighbors may be overcharged as well. I believe DHCR records will show a pattern on the part of 545 to ignore and circumvent state rent regulation laws in addition to ignoring building codes.




Off the top of my head...here is a list of Repairs Still Needed:

Floor surrounding radiator in living room repaired.

Rats removed from apartment

Bathroom light

Bathroom ceiling

Debris between ceiling of apartment 47 and floor of Apartment 57 removed.

Living room light fixture.

Hall light fixture

Kitchen light fixture

Dining room light fixture

Missing rain pipe replaced 

Door buzzer

Services lacking:

Heat

Hot water

Elevator

Trash can lids

Recycling Container 

Hall, stairs, and lobby should be cleaned regularly 

Often, quiet enjoyment is made impossible by parties in apt #1.


Thank you for you help in resolving these matters. I am hopefully we can come to agreement in the near future.

Today was my housing court date with 545 W 146th ST. CORP. The new attorney for 545 W 146th Street Corp (Joel Charlston) turns out to be fairly nice and reasonable. We scheduled a time (Friday noonish) for him to come by and photograph 545 W 146th Street in all its glory as he had not yet seen the building. We agreed to adjourn the case (73150) until August 25th, 2010. I feel pretty good about this.

Back from Ohio earlier than planned due to LL starting housing court action the moment I left. Hearing was re-scheduled for the 28th of July, 2010. Erin Dunner, Bernardo and I went through this in the spring of 2009. I remember several days of sitting in and around 111 Center Street until a judge finally agreed that a "Holdover" action is not the proper action to file as this is a "Non-Payment" case. In any case, the bathroom ceiling is still in dis-repair. The bathroom floor was a botched job. We still have to deal with many problems such as lack of hot water, an elevator that is frequently out of service, broken doors and windows, lack of heat on cold winter days, and harassment when attempting to organize tenant meetings.